


Opposites Attract

by SepticRaven



Series: Opposites [1]
Category: Ultimate Spider-Man (Cartoon 2012)
Genre: Alcoholism, Avengers - Freeform, Fluff, Gaurdians of the Galaxy - Freeform, Jesse Alexander's A+ parenting, M/M, Nova Corps, Rare Pairing, Sam Needs A Hug, Sam is chaos, for like a second, iron fist - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-20
Updated: 2018-06-20
Packaged: 2019-05-26 00:07:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,471
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14988470
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SepticRaven/pseuds/SepticRaven
Summary: Sam Alexander knew he was chaotic.He had always known. It wasn’t just what he had heard from others, but from an outside view of himself. He spoke to much and too loudly, he judged quickly and made rash decisions. He was a slave to his emotions more often then he ever wanted to admit.He wondered if he got it from his father.





	Opposites Attract

**Author's Note:**

> This is a mess, but a polished mess.
> 
> I got this rare pair as a side pairing in a fiction I read, and was intrigued. Expect more of this duo!

**Opposites Attract**

* * *

 

 

  
Sam Alexander knew he was chaotic.

He had always known. It wasn’t just what he had heard from others, but from an outside view of himself. He spoke to much and too loudly, he judged quickly and made rash decisions. He was a slave to his emotions more often then he ever wanted to admit.

He wondered if he got it from his father.

God, he hoped not. He had liked his dad once, when he was a little kid, but that had been more of a childish attempt to earn the man’s affection than anything. Sure, his dad had taken him stargazing a few times, helped him with school when he wasn’t drunk off his balls, but he still sucked as a dad.

Watching your dad stumble in, heavily intoxicated and speckled with what looked suspiciously like blood, wasn’t something a child should have seen. But at least Sam had some fond memories, his little sister Kaelynn had grown up with it. She was still young, but he was hoping to be enough of a father figure in her life that she would turn out okay.

He never understood how his mother put up with it. He couldn’t tell by her eyes if she loved him or hated him, but they stayed together anyway. Up until his father had disappeared.

Yeah, Jesse Alexander sure was chaotic.

Becoming Nova had been anything but easy. All he had wanted was to find was his father, not a talking tree and raccoon telling him his father was a member of the Nova core. He was glad they had taught him how to use the helmet, even getting strong enough to best Gamora, but things were never easy.

The first time Sam saved somebody, he was thirteen.

He remembered that day clearly, how he had booked it right after, too nervous. He had that habit.

The first time Sam stopped an alien invasion, he was fourteen.

It had taken crashing face first into the Avenjet and subsequently falling out of the sky, but they had eventually done it. Around that time, Fury found him, offered him some stability. Sam had refused at first, wanting to stay with the guardians and be a hero on his own terms, but Rocket had grudgingly told the kid to keep at eye on his family, to stay. He trusted Rocket.

Being a shield agent was difficult, but it was easier than some of the training he had gone through before the invasion. It truth, he hated shield more often that not. He hated being treated like a kid, even if he technically was one. The other members of his team hadn’t trained with intergalactic heroes, with Thanos’ own reformed daughter, they hadn’t stopped an alien invasion with the avengers, and they weren’t part of a galaxy wide police force.

So he was a little salty about not being team captain. He had been working even longer than webs had, but just because he was a ‘loose cannon who made rash decisions’ he was put with tikes.

It was probably because Sam was chaotic.

Don’t get him wrong- he liked his team. He knew they underestimated him, but he let them. It had been one of Gamora’s first lessons. Ava was cool, so were Luke, Danny, and even WebHead sometimes, and they had all been through stuff too, but they still got on his nerves.

The only reasons he stayed were for his family, which he visited every day he could, and the practice. Learning how to deal with difficult people was a key trait a Nova needed, probably. He had met some pretty nasty aliens, so learning a few things from humans was a start.

Novas were strong, feared and hated by all types of intergalactic criminals. It put a warrant on his head, but if was his duty to carry the mantel his father left him. There were so many dead Novas, he needed to be strong.

But nobody ever understood how difficult it could be. Maybe some of the things, seeing as they were all kids who had been dragged through the grime of the world, but being a Nova hurt. Nobody understood the splitting headaches that came with holding that much power while he was still young, though part of it could have been his multiple head injuries. They didn’t understand how sick it could make him, how his own power sometimes burned him. He was too young to be a Nova safely.

But he wasn’t dead yet, so he took that as a sign.

After any mission that used more than what he had deemed the safest amount of energy his body could handle, it was only a matter of time before he crumbled into a ball, more than likely high on a not so safe dosage of pain killers. It wasn’t Ideal, but the pain normally stopped by the time he woke up.

It had been a particularly tough day when Sam hadn’t been able to get to his room and down Ibeprophen and Benadryl, instead collapsing in the team’s dorm hallway.

He nearly threw off his helmet, clutching his head and try not to burn himself with the residual energy in his body. Taking it off while still so charged would be a death sentence. He knew that the janitors, or cleaning bots, or whatever, wouldn’t be pleased about the giant scorch marks on the wall, but he didn’t care at the moment.

He prayed that the team had gone off somewhere. He didn’t want to be found looking so weak, so obviously chaotic. If they did, they would report it and Fury would go back to basics with him, or worse, he’d be forced to give up being Nova, give up helping people.

He couldn’t let that happen.

When a hand touched his shoulder, he couldn’t help the embarrassing noise of pain as his energy surged, probably lashing out whatever idiot touched the glowing kid. To their credit, the hand stayed. He immediately felt calmer, energy calming down and storing back in his helmet.

He had immediately ripped it off, panting and trying to get a grip while his body still buzzed with electricity. As reluctant as he was, he slowly peered up at who had helped him. Danny was crouched beside him, the concern for his teammate obvious. Sam didn’t like concern.

Where Sam was Chaos, Danny was peace.

Sam didn’t know all of Daniel Rand’s story, other than he was a rich kid that disappeared and came back with a magic fist. He didn’t ask for an origin story, and the others didn’t ask for his, so it was up for speculation.

Still, Danny was peace, and he had used that peace to stop Sam’s chaos. To stop the pain.

Sam stopped his mind in its tracks, focusing on the more important detail. Danny was his team member, Danny could, and probably would for Sam’s safety, tell Fury.

Even though he was exhausted, Sam forced himself to get up, grabbing his helmet and trying to power walk to his room. He needed a shower, but he’d wait until he knew the team was gone.

Danny hadn’t said anything, but Sam knew that this wasn’t over. Rand never let things stay as they were.

The next time Daniel cornered him, it had been nearly a week. Sam had been naively hoping that Danny would just drop it, but the ninja, of course, didn’t. He had managed to catch Sam after training, standing behind him like a creep. With Sam’s luck, he had accidentally grabbed a t-shirt, so the semi fresh burns on his hands and arms that were still healing were out in the open.

Sam had hissed in pain when Danny touched his shoulder, glaring at the well meaning hero. He had put on his helmet and materialized his costume, glow bright and agitated as he brushed past Danny.

He knew he wouldn’t be able to avoid the conversation, but he was still trying.

That night, when he woke up gasping from a nightmare about losing the guardians, one that reminded him of the sleep epidemic’s nightmare, he snuck out, planning to fly around the city until he got bored. As much as being Nova could hurt, it was also the best feeling in the world when he could just _feel_ it.

He couldn’t say he really was surprised when Danny sat beside him on the edge of a random roof.

“I can feel your pain.” Sam continued to stare out at the neon lit streets, watching night owls and club goers waltz the streets.

“Wow. Great opener.” He responded dryly, his glow faltering the slightest bit as he leaned over the edge, watching normal people with normal lives pass under him.

“Pushing those who try to help away is only furthering one’s self destruction.” Sam snorted, glancing at the dragon boy.

“I don’t need help. I’m fine.” His glow got brighter and warmer as he prepared to take off, but a gentle grip on his wrist stopped him. Danny had been careful no to touch any of the burns he knew of, grip light, but firm.

“We all have struggles, Sam. None of us need to fight our battles alone.” Daniel usually spoke cryptically, but, this time, his message was very clear. Sam sighed, pulling off his helmet and holding it in his lap, giving up his last defense. Determined, he faced Daniel.

“I do. It’s my mantle, just like Iron Fist is yours. Tell me, if your iron fist burned you, would you still fight?” Sam watched Daniel look at his hands for a long moment, before they made eye contact.

“Yes. I would, but I wouldn’t push you away. I trust you, Sam.”

“Why?” Sam stared at Daniel for a long moment, grip tightening on his helmet. Team trust was one thing, but trusting outside of the costume, that was completely different.

“Because, you’ve given me reason to. Now, we should return to the helacarrier before Fury sends the team after us.”

“Alright.”

Sam let Danny dress his burns, if only for the teen’s peace of mind. That night, his dreams were calmer.

Maybe it was because Danny was peace.

“Being a Nova gives you headaches?” Even as Danny was a fan of silence, he occasionally asked little questions when they were together.

“Yeah, but I also hit my head, a lot, so that could be it.” Sam chuckled, a hand carding through his hair and feeling for the small scars he knew to be there. The first time he hit his head, he was a kid. His dad had thought it would be a good idea to drink and drive Sam to soccer practice, and Sam had ended up smacking his head on the window when they harshly swerved.

The second time, he had fallen from a railing, and boy, did that one hurt. He remembered how terrified the teacher had been to see him bleeding on the ground. It was kind of humorous, looking back.

The most memorable time had been when he fell off of his skateboard and wacked his head on the sidewalk. The memorable part, however, was waking up to a tree and raccoon standing above his hospital bed.

He had many other incidents, and it had caused him to have bad migraines sometimes, but it wasn’t that bad.

  
As time passed Sam noticed a few little things, like how Daniel kept an eye on how much he exerted himself, or how he excused himself from post mission celebrations to keep Sam company. Sam found that he didn’t mind it, finally able to throw out most of his pain medication. He didn’t want to become his father, addicted to something in an effort to distance himself from the world.

Daniel taught Sam how to balance out his power, and Sam kept Danny from getting lost in his head. Danny gave Sam some balance, and Sam helped Danny not be too balanced. They watched out for one another, and it was oddly welcomed. The team were their suspicious selves, but Sam didn’t care that much.

When going out for lunch on the weekends became a regular thing, Sam found himself enjoying the ‘normal’ time, away from villains and shield. When Sam convinced Danny to try skating, something Danny actually wasn’t too good at, despite his normally perfect balance, it was nice to laugh and tease, not trying to be professional. When they shared stories about the stars or K’un Lun, it was nice to trust someone so fully. When the two boys found themselves sitting on the edge of a roof once again, Danny’s hand carefully holding Sam’s lightly scarred on, it was nice to feel so free.

Sam was chaos, and Danny was peace. For all intents and purposes, they should have ruined one another, offset each other’s balance, but somehow, they leveled each other out. Danny needed a little chaos, and Sam definitely needed a little peace.

When he hadn’t been able to get up one day, too exhausted and nauseous to even imagine suiting up, Danny covered for him.

When Sam was trying to explain the burn tissue all over his arms and back to the concerned teacher who had caught him wincing, Danny had covered for him.

When he he’d nightmares about the invasion or the other painful battles he’d had, Danny had always been willing to lay beside him, his zen and presence enough to keep the nightmares at bay.

When he was dangerously close to burning himself out in a battle, Danny was there to fight with him, to keep him from overexerting himself. As much as he didn’t like to admit it, it was nice to have someone in his corner, or, more specifically, someone like Daniel in his corner.

And it went both ways.

When Danny was too stressed out from his company, Sam was there to take him for a walk in the park to calm his mind.

When Danny was using too much of his power, Sam was there to mediate, to fight beside him.

When Danny forgot to eat or sleep because of meditation or school, Sam was there to force him to sleep or eat something.

He wasn’t sure what would happen from then on. He knew that one day, Danny would return to K’un Lun and he would return to the Guardians, but he saved that worry for another day. For now, he was just glad to have someone as pure and peaceful beside him, someone who liked him, despite the chaos he brought. It was nice.

Yeah. Sam was chaos, Wild and unpredictable.

Danny was peace, perfect and serene.

Polar opposites, both having the power to destroy the other.

Yet;

Together, they were the perfect storm.


End file.
